Ghost Rider joins the Marvel Universe and it will be Ryan Gosling!

The rumor has been circulating for months, it’s now official. The new film will be directed by Shawn Levy and will be released in 2028.

The secret was less and less well kept. After hinting that he was in discussions with Marvel in recent months, Ryan Gosling was officially introduced as the new Ghost Rider during the Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

It was Kevin Feige himself who announced the news on the stage of Hall H. The actor Last Chance Project will headline a film dedicated to the famous demonic biker, which is already scheduled for release in 2028.

To produce, Marvel chose a sure bet: Shawn Levy. The filmmaker thus reunites with Ryan Gosling after their collaboration on Star Wars: Starfighterexpected in 2027. He already knows the MCU perfectly, since he signed the immense success of Deadpool & Wolverine.

Ryan Gosling thus becomes the third actor to play Ghost Rider in live action. Before him, Nicolas Cage had lent his features to Johnny Blaze in the two films produced by Sony in 2007 and 2011. More recently, Gabriel Luna had played another incarnation of the character, Robbie Reyes, in the series Agents of SHIELD. A spin-off dedicated to the latter was even developed for Hulu before being canceled in 2019.

In the comics, Johnny Blaze is a motorcycle stuntman who sells his soul to the demon Mephisto (played by Sasha Baron Cohen in the MCU since Ironheart) to save his father, who was suffering from cancer. The pact obviously turns into tragedy: his father dies despite everything and Blaze becomes the host of the Spirit of Vengeancea demon who transforms him into a skeletal biker with a flaming head. Endowed with superhuman strength, he wields a chain of fire and above all possesses the fearsome Penance Stare, a power which forces his victims to relive all the suffering they have inflicted on others.

The two films carried by Nicolas Cage did not convince the critics, but Ghost Rider remained one of the most popular characters in the Marvel universe. Since the rights returned to Marvel Studios, fans have been waiting for his arrival in the MCU.

With Ryan Gosling starring and Shawn Levy behind the camera, Marvel seems determined to breathe new life into the Spirit of Vengeancewho should become one of the major new faces of the saga after Avengers: Secret Wars.